Stone signed on as a producer on “Poor Things,” making her, Margot Robbie and Bradley Cooper the three actors to earn Best Picture nominations this year for the films they starred in. It's a hat she's been wearing a lot lately, forming Fruit Tree. , a production company co-founded with her husband Dave McCary. In recent months, her logo at the beginning of a movie has become a seal of approval: what you're about to see will be smart and interesting. At Sundance, she backed Jane Schoenbrun's “I Saw the TV Glow,” arguably the festival's most lively film. Fruit Tree was also in “A Real Pain,” my favorite Sundance film, written and directed by Stone’s “Zombieland” co-star Jesse Eisenberg. (Stone also produced his directorial debut, “When You're Done Saving the World.”) After the premiere of “A Real Pain,” Eisenberg took a moment to thank Stone, who was unable to attend, for giving him an idea for a crucial plot point he had been struggling with. And this weekend, Fruit Tree is one of the companies behind “Problemista,” Julio Torres’ surreal, whimsical examination of immigrant dreams and the weirdness of the art scene. Good on Stone for lending her support to thoughtful and adventurous independent films.
All of that would be enough to praise Stone, but how can you overlook “The Curse,” which in my opinion is an even more impressive work than “Poor Things”? When the series was first announced (Stone teaming up with Nathan Fielder and Benny Safdie), it seemed like a strange project for her. Now that I've seen it, “The Curse” is unimaginable without it. This may be my favorite thing I've ever done.
A satire of HGTV, reality TV, white privilege, marriage, and the kind of people whose do-gooders are more insufferable than helpful, “The Curse” stars Stone as Whitney, who along with her ineffectual and somewhat robotic husband Asher (Fielder) presents “Fliplanthropy.” As that title suggests (sort of), “Fliplanthropy” is a new HGTV series in which Whitney sells prospective homeowners in the impoverished community of Española, New Mexico, on the expensive, eco-friendly homes she has designed. The outside of them is covered with mirrored glass and the inside (she claims) does not require air conditioning. (“It's like a thermos!” she explains, which reassures no one.) Whitney, who considers herself an artist and an activist, is dedicated to responsible stewardship and preservation of the traditions of the native peoples who first occupied this land, ideals she upholds in such a joyful and pious manner that you instantly wonder. what's hidding.
Created by Fielder and Safdie, with Stone and her husband as executive producers, “The Curse” is a spectacular synthesis of the two men's sensibilities: the show is as uncomfortable as you would expect from those responsible for “The Rehearsal” and “Gems.” without cutting”. Safdie plays Dougie, a somewhat gross veteran reality TV director who is an old friend of Asher's, each of these actors playing variations on characters you've seen before. But as good as Fielder is as a shy, awkward husband with a terrifying streak of anger, it's Stone who rules the show. You have seen glimpses of this Stone in previous performances. And yet, he is different: further proof that he will not cease to surprise us with what he can do.
